Mephaath
Smith's Bible Dictionary [1]
Meph'a-ath. (Splendor Height). City of the Reubenites, one of the towns independently at Heshhon, Joshua 13:18, lying in the district of the Mishor. Compare Joshua 13:17 and Jeremiah 48:21. Authorized Version, "plain," which probably answered to the modern Belka . It was one of the cities allotted, with their suburbs, to the Merarite Levites. Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79. It's site is uncertain.
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [2]
Mephaath A city of Reuben ( Joshua 13:18 ); assigned to the Levites ( Joshua 21:37 , 1 Chronicles 6:79 ); a Moabite city in Jeremiah 48:21 . In the 4th cent. a.d. it is said to have been the station of a Roman garrison.
Fausset's Bible Dictionary [3]
("beauty".) A town of Reuben ( Joshua 13:17-18; Joshua 21:37); a dependency of Heshbon, N. of Amen, in the "downs" ( Mishor ), the modern Belka ( Jeremiah 48:21). Assigned to the Merarite Levites. Regained by Moab.
Morrish Bible Dictionary [4]
Levitical city in Reuben, east of the Jordan. Joshua 13:18; Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79; Jeremiah 48:21 . Not identified
Holman Bible Dictionary [5]
Joshua 13:18 Joshua 21:37 1 Chronicles 6:79 Jeremiah 48:21
Easton's Bible Dictionary [6]
Joshua 21:37
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [7]
[some Mepha'ath] (Hebrews Meypha'ath, מֵיפִעִת , prob. Splendor ; once defectively written מֵפִעִת . Joshua 13:18, and once [Kethib] מוֹפִעִת , Jeremiah 48:21; Sept. Μηφάαθ in Josh., Φαάθ ''V. R Μαεφλά in Chron. And Μαφάς v. r. Μωφάθ in Jer.), a Levitical (Merarite) city ( Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79) of the tribe of Reuben ( Joshua 13:18), doubtless originally (like Heshbon, of which it formed a dependency) in the hands of the Amorites ( Numbers 21:26), but afterwards belonging to Moab ( Jeremiah 48:21); probably situated near Kedemoth and Jahazah, in connection with which it is always mentioned. Eusebius ( Onomast .) calls it Mephath ( Μηφάθ ), and states that it was still occupied by a Roman garrison as a defence against the Arabs of the neighboring desert. As the name implies a conspicuous position, the site may possibly correspond with that of the modern village with ruins on an eminence marked as Umn El- Weled on Van de Velde's Map , east of Medeba. "The extended, and possibly later, form of the name which occurs in Chronicles and Jeremiah, as if Mey Phaath , ‘ waters of Phaath,' may be, as in other cases, an attempt to fix an intelligible meaning on an archaic or foreign word;" although the fuller form appears to be radical (so both Gesenius and Ftirst, from
יָפִע , To Glitter, Be Eminent ).
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [8]
mef´ā́ - ath , mḗ - fā´ath ( מפעת , mēpha‛ath and מיפעת , mēypha‛ath , מופעת , mōpha‛ath ; Codex Vaticanus, Μαιφάαθ , Maipháath , Μηφάαθ , Mēpháath ): A city of the Amorites in the territory allotted to Reuben, named with Kedemoth and Kiriathaim ( Joshua 13:18 ), and given to the Merarite Levites ( Joshua 21:37; 1 Chronicles 6:79 ). It appears again as a Moabite town in Jeremiah 48:21 . It was known to Eusebius and Jerome (Onom) as occupied by a Roman garrison, but the site has been lost.
References
- ↑ Mephaath from Smith's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mephaath from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
- ↑ Mephaath from Fausset's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mephaath from Morrish Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mephaath from Holman Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mephaath from Easton's Bible Dictionary
- ↑ Mephaath from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
- ↑ Mephaath from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia